Oregon LNG Project Secures 82% Landowner Support
The Jordan Cove LNG project said June 24 it has secured voluntary easement agreements with 82% of the private landowners along the route of the Pacific Trail pipeline, which will deliver feed gas to the proposed 7.8mn mt/yr liquefaction plant in Coos Bay, Oregon from the Malin trading hub in southern Oregon.
“This 82% is more than just a number,” said Harry Andersen, senior vice president for Jordan Cove’s Canadian parent, Pembina Pipeline. “It represents a tremendous measure of progress forward for Jordan Cove.”
When Jordan Cove was first turned down by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) in 2016, one of the reasons cited was lack of landowner support for the 229-mile Pacific Trail pipeline. And when Pembina acquired the project with its 2017 acquisition of Verasen, voluntary easement agreements had been reached with only 20% of affected landowners.
The LNG project, which has faced stiff state, local and indigenous opposition since it was first introduced by Verasen, will be the subject of scoping meetings across Oregon this week, designed to give Ferc staff public input as they prepare the project’s final environmental impact statement (EIS), which is expected to be completed in October 2019. Ferc’s final order on the project is anticipated in early January 2020.
The fact that 82% of affected landowners have reached voluntary easement agreements, the company said, shows that despite apparent public objections to the project, a “quiet majority of citizens in southern Oregon” support the project.
“The project has seen great progress over the past few months including positive draft environmental impact statement conclusions from the Ferc, which pointed to a majority of environmental impacts being less significant due to the proposed and recommended avoidance, minimization and mitigation measures,” Andersen said.
Despite positive landowner support, the project still faces headwinds at the state level: a key water quality certification was denied in May, and decisions on other key state permits won’t be made until later this year. In light of that, Pembina has slowed work on the project, and now does not anticipate a final investment decision until 1H 2020, with completion delayed a year, to 2025.